Theatre at the End of the World

Mark Robson

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58486-3_12

Theatre at the End of the World

Mark Robson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Robson addresses the relation between affect and politics by offering a response to two contemporary Scottish plays, Swallow, by Stef Smith (Swallow, Nick Hern Books, 2015), and Heads Up, by Kieran Hurley (Heads Up, Oberon, 2016). Both plays offer visions of personal and political catastrophe, and Robson relates them to work in recent European philosophy and political theory. In particular, Robson turns to Jean-Luc Nancy’s rethinking of Martin Heidegger’s understanding of fear, relating the creation of worlds to what Nancy calls compassion. Avoiding nihilism, Robson argues that reading Nancy’s work alongside the two plays reveals how imagining the end of the world can paradoxically allow for a negation of the present in which it is possible to find hope.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Affects in Twenty-First Century British Theatre
Subtitle of host publication	Exploring Feeling on Page and Stage
Editors	Mireia Aragay, Cristina Delgado-Garcia, Martin Middeke
Place of Publication	London
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Chapter	12
Pages	239-256
Number of pages	18
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030584863
ISBN (Print)	9783030584856
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58486-3_12
Publication status	Published - 10 Apr 2021

Keywords

theatre
affect
contemporary

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-58486-3_12

Cite this

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N2 - Robson addresses the relation between affect and politics by offering a response to two contemporary Scottish plays, Swallow, by Stef Smith (Swallow, Nick Hern Books, 2015), and Heads Up, by Kieran Hurley (Heads Up, Oberon, 2016). Both plays offer visions of personal and political catastrophe, and Robson relates them to work in recent European philosophy and political theory. In particular, Robson turns to Jean-Luc Nancy’s rethinking of Martin Heidegger’s understanding of fear, relating the creation of worlds to what Nancy calls compassion. Avoiding nihilism, Robson argues that reading Nancy’s work alongside the two plays reveals how imagining the end of the world can paradoxically allow for a negation of the present in which it is possible to find hope.

AB - Robson addresses the relation between affect and politics by offering a response to two contemporary Scottish plays, Swallow, by Stef Smith (Swallow, Nick Hern Books, 2015), and Heads Up, by Kieran Hurley (Heads Up, Oberon, 2016). Both plays offer visions of personal and political catastrophe, and Robson relates them to work in recent European philosophy and political theory. In particular, Robson turns to Jean-Luc Nancy’s rethinking of Martin Heidegger’s understanding of fear, relating the creation of worlds to what Nancy calls compassion. Avoiding nihilism, Robson argues that reading Nancy’s work alongside the two plays reveals how imagining the end of the world can paradoxically allow for a negation of the present in which it is possible to find hope.

KW - theatre

KW - affect

KW - contemporary

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-58486-3_12

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-58486-3_12

M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)

SN - 9783030584856

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EP - 256

BT - Affects in Twenty-First Century British Theatre

A2 - Aragay, Mireia

A2 - Delgado-Garcia, Cristina

A2 - Middeke, Martin

PB - Palgrave Macmillan

CY - London

ER -

Theatre at the End of the World

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Keywords

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